Diamonds in the Rough
by SuperNova26
Summary: To love is to risk it all in the pursuit of happiness. To love is to risk the breaking of the ultimate trust. Would that risk break Nick Miller out of his funk or would it just cause him to retreat further?
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:- Evening all, this is my new story that I've been planning since watching the episode. This starts immediately after Jess and Nick share their kiss. I don't have a beta so all mistakes (be forgiving, I'm sure there is a few) are mine. I apologise for any 'British' words used - it's a hazard of being British. Also this is done primarily from Nicks POV purely because well, I'm a bloke, so like all of men I don't have a scooby doo what goes on in womens heads most of the time. Enjoy! **_

_**Diamonds amongst the Rough **_

_**Chapter One – Manning up **_

It wasn't exactly uncommon knowledge to know that Nick Miller tended to do things without thinking. Schmidt called him reckless, Winston called him impulsive and Jess...well Jess was the latest victim of his 'lack of thought'.

It'd been a little under a week since he'd kissed her. A little under a week since he'd taken refuge in his room – only leaving for bathroom and food breaks – and he only tended to do that when everybody else was at work. That was at least one plus to doing the late shift in the bar, he'd pretty much managed to avoid Jess completely and hadn't had to answer any of Schmidt or Winstons questions about the undoubted awkwardness between them.

However, there was one slight hitch in his plan. Today was Saturday and for the first time in _months _he'd been given a Saturday night off...this would mean that Winston and Schmidt would want to do something...which likely meant that Jess would be around too. This was something he had to avoid at all cost.

Nick was broken from the planning of finding something – anything - that would keep him occupied for the duration of the day by a soft knock at his door. For a minute Nick didn't answer, he barely breathed, hoping that who ever it was would figure him to still be a sleep and leave him be.

"Nick, you awake?" The deep, rumbling voice of Winston asked through the door. Winston was probably the lesser of all the evils in the loft but that didn't mean Nick wanted to speak to him, so he remained perfectly still, eyes fixated on the door. "I know your awake, Nick, you've stopped snoring!"

"I don't -" Nick argued before he could stop himself, clamping a hand over his mouth when his brain finally registered the noise coming out of his mouth.

The door handle twisted and the door swung open to reveal Winston stood in the door frame, large mug of coffee in his hand, still dressed in his flannel pyjama bottoms and obscure Latvian basketball vest and looking very much like he'd just gotten up.

"Holy shit..." gasped Winston as he took a step into the room, his eyes wide as he cast a look around. "Have you...cleaned?"

Nick gave a rather half hearted shrug as an answer, not really seeing what the big deal about giving his room a slight clean was, as he span around on his desk chair to face his friend.

"I can see your carpet, actual carpet!" Winston exclaimed in shock. "Are you alright, Nick?"

"Yeah, man, of course." replied Nick, trying his best to look bemused at Winston, and sound normal.

"You sure?" questioned Winston, taking a sip of his coffee, though never taking his eyes off of Nick, looking at him with the utmost suspicion. "Because both Schmidt and me are beginning to think that we live alone. We haven't seen you for like a week!"

"I,er, just been busy." It wasn't _technically _a lie. He had been busy at the bar. "Kirstys been really ill so I've been asked to cover her shifts."

"We've hardly seen you or Jess since last weekend." Stated Winston.

They hadn't seen Jess?

Nick frowned as his mind raced. Had he forced her out of the apartment with his kiss? Had she chosen to leave rather than have to face him?

Nick ignored that hypocritical train of thought and quickly tried to compose himself, trying to think of the right words so that Winston didn't get suspicious.

"Well I've been working lates...what's Jess been up to?" asked Nick, trying to sound curious but not too curious.

Winstons eyes boggled like Nick had grown a second head.

"Where have you been this week?" asked Winston. "You didn't hear Jess and Sam screaming at each other the day? We've seen literally nothing of her since then...Schmidt reckons that she's hidin' out at Cece's."

Sam and Jess had had an argument? A serious argument by the sounds of it. Nick had a hard time imaging Sam shouting at anybody...he always seemed so polite and well mannered. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty...you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the cause. The timing was to convenient to be anything else. Had his one act of selfishness caused the end of, what seemed, to be a good relationship for her.

"Oh...I...well that sucks." Nick replied lamely.

Winston was still regarding Nick with the most peculiar look.

"You haven't done anything stupid, have you Nick?" Asked Winston, setting his mug down on top of Nicks dresser and folding his arms across his chest.

Nick swallowed a lump that he didn't even realise had formed in his throat. His t-shirt was beginning to get a little clingy to his body as he felt a flush creep up his chest. He'd always been terrible at lying; he didn't know why on Earth he'd even tried.

"Yeah, I think I have." sighed Nick, feeling an immense sense of relief that he was about to unload what had been eating him alive for the best part of a week. "I've fucked up, Winston. Fucked up massively."

Winston closed the door behind him and walked over to sit on the end of his bed, his suspicious look morphing into one of concern.

"I'm sure its not that bad, Nick." Winston tried to console.

"Oh it's bad." Disagreed Nick, nodding his head as a pained – embarrassed – grimace graced his face. "Last Saturday night I...I was saying goodnight...I don't know what came over me...I just grabbed her and -" Nick paused in the story to cast a quick glance at Winston, who he was pretty sure had figured out where this was going, judging by the rather disappointed look on his face. "_I kissed her_." Nick finished in a whisper.

For a moment Winston didn't say anything, just silently judged him until Nick began squirming and silently begging Winston to say something.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" asked Winston sternly.

"I know, I know, that I shouldn't have done it."

"Damn right you shouldn't have done it!" Winston growled. "Jess has – had – a boyfriend! You are not that guy, Nick! You don't want to be that guy!"

Nick sighed and nodded in agreement. Before this morning, he'd never even considered Sam, he'd been so concerned about how awkward it was going to be between him and Jess that he hadn't even thought about the potential complications that would arise between them. He'd gone from feeling awkward and embarrassed to shameful and guilty.

"I wasn't thinking!" Stated Nick, gesturing wildly with his hands. "I was annoyed that you'd all been baiting us to kiss and hurt that she'd been so...adamantly against it..."

"This, this isn't a Schmidt style attempt is it?" asked Winston slowly with realistion, like he was now seeing things clearly for the first time in a while. "You actually like her!"

Nick thought about denying it. A large part of him was urging him to deny it and then run for the hills – Chicago was nice this time of year – perhaps his mum would like it if he visited.

"Yeah..." admitted Nick quietly. "Yeah, I do."

There was a moment of silence as both men thought about what Nick had just divulged. It wasn't lost on Nick that this was probably the first time he'd admitted to liking someone to Winston. Normally he just introduced his current fancy to Winston at breakfast.

"You got to think hard about this, Nicolas." said Winston, pushing himself up from the bed and looking down upon him. "If you go after her and things don't work..."

Winston trailed off but Nick got the jist of it.

"You think I should go after her?" Nick asked curiously. He'd expected Winston to go insane at his confession, to try and talk him out of pursuing Jess and list all of the potential downfalls of possibly having a relationship with her, but he didn't. In fact, Winston didn't tell him to do anything.

"I can't tell you what to do," replied Winston. "You're my best friend and she's a close friend too. I want you both to be happy, and if that's with each other, who am to say that's wrong? But, if you go for it and go all 'Nick Miller' and pull the plug on it after a month...things are gonna awful and it'll end up with one of you leaving, Nick. You should give it some serious thought."

"I don't need to think about it." answered Nick instantly. "I've spent months thinking about it. I've fantasised about that kiss a million times and not one matched up to reality."

"Then you should go and speak to her." said Winston with a smile on his face. "And you should definitely go to speak with her before Schmidt gets back from the gym and brings up the 'no nail oath'. That and makes you put money in his Douchebag jar."

Nick chuckled at the memory of Schmidt arguing so adamantly that just because he'd made a pass at Jess, he shouldn't have to put fifty dollars in the jar. God knows what he'd have to pay for actually kissing her.

"I should go talk to her!" stated Nick, jumping up from his chair – the adventures of Julius Pepperwood having long been forgotten – and grabbing his crimson hoody.

"You should probably take a shower first...You smell like a brewery." Advised Winston.

"Yes! Definitely take a shower first!" Enthused Nick, chucking his hoody onto the bed and striding past Winston toward the bathroom, feeling psyched and ready to take responsibility for his actions.

* * *

Nick sighed and tried desperately to steel his nerves. This had seemed like such a good idea when he'd been speaking to Winston, but now he was stood infront of Cece's front door, all the negative aspects of what he was about to do seemed to be flooding to the forefront of his mind.

His fist hovered inched from Cece's stylish white door as he debated going through with this idea. It wasn't to late. He could just put it down to having one to many drinks...it'd be awkward for a few weeks but it'd pass. Hell, you'd never know that Schmidt had tried to kiss her because everything was normal between them.

But he wasn't Schmidt.

He couldn't just pretend it meant nothing to him. He didn't want to.

His mother always told him that there should be no fear in rejection, that you shouldn't focus on the negative aspect and should only deal with it should it rear its ugly head.

Knocking on the door with a little more force than he intended, he shoved his hands back into the pockets of his jeans and shuffled on the door step to Cece's rather glamorous house. It seemed that being a model had more than a few perks.

The wait for somebody to answer the door was agonising. For a moment, he thought perhaps nobody was in, it was after all nearly eleven-thirty on a Saturday, they could have gone out. He was just about to turn around, call it a day, when he heard the click-clack of heels on the other side of the door.

The door opened and revealed the magnificent figure of Cece. It almost sickened him that even when she was dressed in joggers and a tank-top she looked almost unnaturally attractive. Once again Nick found himself giving Schmidt silent props, quite how he'd managed to get somebody like Cece to sleep with somebody like him still baffled Nick.

"Nick..." said Cece with a slightly strained tone to her voice. "I'm not sure that now is really a great time."

Nick shuffled, ringing his hands nervously underneath Cece's gaze.

"I really need to speak to Jess?" It was half stated, half questioned by Nick.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Nick." stated Cece. "Jess isn't really ready to see anybody."

Nick took that to mean that Jess didn't want to see him. He was a little down-heartened, he hated to thing that anybody would not want to see him, he hated it even more to think that somebody as important as Jess didn't want to see him.

"Please...look, I know I screwed up -" Nick started, hoping to convince Cece to at least let him in, but he was quickly silenced when Jess appeared from Cece's living room. She too was dressed in joggers, a bright purple cardigan wrapped around her upper body whilst her mane of dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. A tub of ice-cream held in one of her hands, spoon half way up to her mouth in the other.

"You should let him in, Cece."

It was said quietly just as she span on the heel of her penguin slippers and slipped back into living room. Cece moved to the side, allowing Nick entrance into her home, before stopping him mid-step by placing a hand onto his chest.

"You make her cry, Miller, I will break you." Threatened Cece before turning around and walking up her stairs, leaving Nick standing for a few moments, feeling incredibly intimidated by the normally pleasant Cece.

Nick walked toward the living room, the familiar sound of Dirty Dancing playing in the background, he walked into the room without hesitation to see Jess sitting on Cece's couch, her legs tucked up underneath her, still clutching her ice cream and watching her go to film.

There was a moment of tense silence.

"Are you just going to stand there? Or do you want to sit down?" Asked Jess, tearing her gaze away from the TV and looking at him. Nick nodded without saying a word, still trying to think of the best way to start of the conversation. It was funny, he'd played this conversation in his mind a million times and he'd never once had a problem starting it. "Not there. You can sit here."

Nick paused, half crouched, and looked at Jess who was patting the seat beside her gently but with a rather no-nonsense look in those bright blue eyes. Gingerly, like he was afraid she was suddenly going to strike out at him, Nick moved over to sit by her side.

"Look Jess, I know that you probably don't want to see me or talk to me, and I don't blame you. What I did was out of order and I'm sorry that its caused you so many problems, I really am." Started Nick, speaking softly, hoping that neither Cece or her house-mates where eavesdropping on this private conversation. "But if you ask me if I'm sorry that I kissed you...then the answers no. I'm not sorry. I'm sorry that it happened when it did..." Nick paused slightly as Jess snapped her attention once again to him, her eyes staring intently into his own; it was the most unnerving look he'd ever received, it was like she was looking into his very being.

"You don't regret it?" Asked Jess sceptically.

"No!" Nick replied with a slight chuckle in his voice. He seriously doubted anybody regretted kissing Jess. "I'm sorry it happened when it did. I should never have kissed you whilst you where with Sam, that's a dick move and I'm not that type of guy."

He'd hate to think he was _that_ guy. _That _guy had always been his father. _That _had caused dozens of women to come to his house when he'd been a child and scream and shout at his poor mother. How many times had he seen his mother cry because of _that _guy? How many nights had she cried herself to sleep because of _that _guy?

"If you didn't regret it, then why didn't you leave your room? Why has it taken you a week to come and speak to me?" She stamped her slipper-covered foot in frustration as she looked at him, clearly expecting an answer.

"I was scared." answered Nick honestly. "I was so scared that you'd hate me...I thought...I thought if I stayed out of your way it might help and it just got easier to hide. I slept in the morning, you where gone when I got up and a sleep when I got back...it was easier for everybody."

"Easy isn't always right, Nick." stated Jess, looking over the brow of her glasses at him. "It's easy to ignore that mugger but it doesn't make it right. You should have spoken to me but you just left me, utterly confused and completely alone!"

"No one ever said I was good at this, Jess." said Nick sadly.

"But you should have talked to me! You're supposed to me one of my best friends and you didn't even explain! You just kissed me in the hall way and hid from your problems like a child!" hissed Jess, eyes flashing angrily.

"Explain what? Why I kissed you? Come on Jess, you think I just go around kissing anybody? I kissed you because I like you, Jess...and I have done for a while." Nick blurted out.

"Then why didn't you tell me!"

"Because what if you said no? What happened then? Things would get weird and eventually one of us would leave, and we'd no longer be friends." answered Nick sadly.

"So you kiss me? You don't want things to get weird, so your answer to that is to kiss me? That makes, literally, no sense, Nick!"

He knew it didn't make sense. Nobody had ever accused him of making rational decisions. Just look at his track record. He'd left law school because he was angry at the 'system', he'd stone walled relationships over the smallest thing because he was 'into' commitment and he'd refused to have a mobile phone for the best part of a year because it was 'his thing'.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to be honest with me!"

"I am." Implored Nick. "You told me the other week that you wanted a man that could express their feelings...well I've done that. I've laid them out for you. The balls completely in your court."

He offered Jess a smile before standing from his seat and making his way out of the room, he'd said what he came to say. Nick wasn't surprised to find Cece dashing around the corner into the kitchen, unaware she'd been caught eavesdropping. This wasn't a movie, there was no final scene with Jess rushing into his arms and declaring her love for him, no, instead he just walked out of the front door and headed back to the loft.

* * *

"Pretty heart felt confession, by Mr. Miller, there." stated Cece, handing Jess a cup of rooibos vanilla tea, before plonking herself down in the seat next her.

"I know." Mumbled Jess. "It's just...this is Nick, you know? This is the same man who'd deny loving his own mother if you put him under enough pressure."

"He certainly does things ass-backwards." agreed Cece. "So what you gonna do?"

Jess didn't say anything in response. She couldn't. She was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that Nick had just confessed his feelings for her. Nick Miller, the man who had once talked himself into, then talked himself out of approaching a women in five minutes flat. The man simply couldn't confront his feelings but here he was laying it all out in front of her.

"For what its worth, I think he meant it." Confided Cece. "You only have to look at him to know he's utterly besotted with you."

"You knew?" gasped Jess, looking at her friend in shock.

"No, not at all." corrected Cece, shaking her head. "I'd guessed. He watches you all the time, finds any excuse to be near you and he's always the first to help you if you need something."

Did he watch her? She'd never noticed him looking at her. She didn't think that he spent any more time with her than Winston or Schmidt did. He did help her though. He was always the first to offer her a lift or to get something for her whilst he was at the store, he'd be her shoulder to cry on and offer her little snippets of advice here and there and he was _fun, so much fun._

"What if it all goes wrong? I don't want to lose him as a friend, I don't want to lose the guys or the loft. What if it ends horribly?" Fretted Jess, fiddling with the hem of her cardigan.

"What if it doesn't?" stated Cece, her immaculate eyebrows raising in question.

Jess took a sip of her tea, fiddling absently with a strand of hair that fell down her cheek, biting her bottom lip as she pondered Cece's statement, ignoring the fact that Cece didn't seem to be practising what she preached. She couldn't shake the words that she'd told her adult writing class when she'd been describing how to write romance scenes.

_'To love is to risk it all.'_

_**AN:- I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a review, I'd love to here what you liked and what you didn't. Cheers Nova**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N - Here's the second chapter! As before any mistakes are entirely mine. I'd like to thank you for the kind reviews there greatly appreciated. Feel free to leave me some more! I hope you enjoy it! **_

_**Chapter Two – Now that you're here **_

"What the hell is this!"

Nick closed his eyes as the angry slap of Schmidt's bare feet echoed against the wooden floor of the loft. He'd been home an a hour and he already wished Schmidt was back at the gym. Nick looked up from his note pad, shooting a quick glance at Winston – who was doing something on that fancy Ipad he'd just bought – before looking toward the hallway.

It didn't take long for Schmidt to appear, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, his skin still glistening with moisture, whilst his hair was slicked back effortlessly. Schmidt was alternating between sending both himself and Winston a downright murderous look.

"Who..." Schmidt seemed to pause, taking a deep breath, to apparently compose himself. "Who used my electrical razor this morning?"

Nick ran the back of his left hand against his cheek, enjoying the feel of the light layer of stubble that covered his his cheeks whilst also making it clear to Schmidt, that they may have had that slight mix up with the towel, but using another mans razor...well, that was only slightly above using somebody else toothbrush.

Nick watched as Schmidt's eyes moved toward Winston in a predatory fashion. Nick followed his long time room-mates gaze to see a slight flush gracing Winston's face.

"What! What!" Boom Schmidt in utter disbelief, his spare hand coming up to tap the side of his forehead, as if to silently ask what Winston had been thinking.

"I got caught short last night, I was meeting Daisy and needed to trim the 'stache. I don't see what the big deal is?" stated Winston casually.

"You don't-" Schmidt started before stopping himself, dropping the shaver onto the couch beside Nick, before bringing his fists up against his mouth, like he was physically trying to stop the verbal tirade that was undoubtedly building. "First of all, Winny, I feel I should tell you that no self respecting male uses an electric razor on their face. Wet shaving is a sacred tradition passed down from father to son! Back me up on this, Nick!"

Nick opened his mouth, about to actually agree with Schmidt, he'd never really understood why Winston insisted on using the electric razor; Nick just never felt like he got the same quality of shave from the electric ones.

"Wait..." Interrupted Winston, looking suddenly appalled. "What do you mean 'no self respecting male uses an electric razor on their face'? Schmidt...were do you use that razor?"

A rather mischievous smirk danced across Schmidt's lips.

"Well, I got to take care of my boys!"

Nick winced as Schmidt accompanied that statement with a crotch chop and thrust of his hips.

"Jar!" demanded Nick, pointing vaguely in the direction of the suspiciously empty douchebag jar.

The sound of taps running caused Nick to turn his upper body as much as physically possible to see Winston leaning over the sink, desperately splashing water over his face and scrubbing his cheeks.

"I feel like this is one of those things that I should remember for when I do Winstons best man speech. You know, that funny story about when Winston had my balls on his chin!" Stated Schmidt teasingly, which only seemed to increase Winstons scrubbing.

"Yes!" Cried Nick in agreement through his sniggering laughter.

"I feel so unclean..." moaned Winston, lifting his face out of the sink momentarily. " To think Daisy kissed my cheek too. I don't think I'll ever let her kiss me again."

"Oh and FYI Winston, you better plan on disinfecting that sink once your done. We wash our utensils in there!" Lectured Schmidt, spinning on his heel and walking – with a renewed swagger – back toward the bathroom.

"Kill me know, Nick. Kill me know." Begged Winston pathetically, dabbing at his face with a wash cloth, making Nick unbelievably glad that Schmidt wasn't still present, he'd have pitched a fit.

"I wouldn't worry, Winston. Schmidt'll get distracted soon enough." Said Nick, silently preying that that distraction wouldn't be something to do with him and Jess.

"Speaking of distractions...how'd your talk with Jess go?"asked Winston, walking over and taking a seat opposite him.

Nick sighed, putting down his notepad and pen, leaning back against the back of the chair and trying to decide just how his talk with Jess went. He didn't think it was possible that he could possibly leave that conversation more confused than when he had been before, but he had.

"I don't really know to be honest." Replied Nick, "I told her how I felt...That I was sorry for kissing her when she was with Sam and apologised if I'd caused her problems...I left the ball in her court, not much else I can do now."

Winston nodded with approval, apparently agreeing with the way that he had handled the situation, which consoled Nick a great deal, probably more than Winston would ever know.

"Balls in whose court?" asked Schmidt, now dressed, as he jumped over the arm of the chair suddenly, leaning into the crook of the sofa and looking from Nick and Winston expectantly.

"Err..." Nick stammered, looking wildly at Winston, hoping for him to take the lead.

"Nick wants to shoot some hoops with me." Covered Winston smoothly, though Schmidt narrowed his eyes.

"I heard Nick say _her..._" Schmidt mumbled, more to himself than to either of them. "Has Nicholas got a paramore? Is there a special lady that's entered your life? When do I get to meet her? Give her my approval?"

Nick felt that familiar flush creeping up his back as he shifted uncomfortably under Schmidt's expectant gaze, those thick black eyebrows of his wiggling suggestively. Nick opened his mouth, about to attempt to lie, knowing full well the likelihood of Schmidt buying it was slim but it had to be better to attempt to lie than the inevitable shit-storm that would erupt from Schmidt if he knew the truth.

He was saved by Schmidts version of the Spanish inquisition by the sound of a key trying to find the lock. It had to be Jess. She was the only one who wasn't currently in the loft. Nicks heart felt like it was about to burst through his chest. Had she decided? Would she address him or just ignore him? Had he pushed to far...had he told her too soon? Was she still raw after Sam?

He saw Winston flash him an encouraging smile and felt a little better at his old friends encouragement but it didn't stop the millions of questions flying around his brain.

"This is like some-sort alternate universe? Jess and Nick in the loft at the same time!" quipped Schmidt, half turned and craning his neck to watch Jess enter the loft. Jess entered, still dressed in the same clothes she had been earlier, a small gym bag slung over her shoulder, she closed the door behind her but stopped as soon as she turned around. Nick flushed as their gaze met, holding it for a few seconds before looking away, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Good-afternoon, Jessica!" Greeted Schmidt vibrantly. "Nice to see you! How are you? Its been a while!"

If Jess heard him she didn't show it. Nick lifted his gaze to see her still staring at him, her glasses slipped slightly down her small, button nose and a faint flush gracing her cheeks.

"C-can I..." Jess paused, taking a deep breath to compose herself, before continuing. "Nick, can I speak to you for a moment, please?"

Nick swallowed hard, his tongue darting out to wet his suddenly incredibly dry lips, he didn't trust his brain to form tangible words so he nodded sharply, pushing himself into a stand and following Jess, who had already began walking toward her room.

This was it. The moment he'd been dreading and yet wishing to happen for a entire week now. This would be the moment that decided if he'd destroyed his friendship with her and possibly his room mates. This was quite literally the moment that would define not only this year but possibly years to come. No matter what she said...his life would be different.

It hadn't quite dawned upon Nick until then, as he followed Jess through the familiar layout of the loft, just what he could lose. He was quite literally risking it all. His friends, his home...

She was impossible to read. She gave no clue as to what she was going to say to him. Her stride was unrelenting and purposeful as she made her way to her room. There was no skip, no twirl or made-up song. She never once gave him a reassuring look over her shoulder. Nick would defy anybody to say that they wouldn't have been terrified had they been in his shoes.

Nick vaguely heard Schmidt question on Winston about what was going on. Nick briefly thanked the Gods that Winston was gifted with the ability to lie.

Nick walked into Jess' room and closed the door behind him. He'd been Jess' room more times than he cared to remember but he'd never found himself trying to memorise the layout before; the bundles of jewellery that lay on-top of her dresser, the mirror that was was adorned by various stickers with a variety of cliché slogans, the wardrobe that didn't seem to have any clothes hanging up in it – instead the clothes laying in a heap in the bottom. His favourite part of the room had to be the crooked bookshelf that sat in the far corner that he'd 'built' her. It didn't house any of her books, it couldn't, it was too lop-sided but it reminded him of a simpler time. A time were he wasn't worried that this would be his last time standing in this room with her.

"You, erm, wanted to talk to me Jess?" Nick asked breaking the silence, trying overly hard to sound casual about and internally wincing at how utterly lame he sounded.

"Yeah – I mean yes -" said Jess, clearing her throat and trying – at least in Nicks mind – to sound a little bit more in control than she actually was. There was something unnatural about seeing Jess so serious, he was so used to being around cute, carefree and bubbly Jess that when she was sad or serious it seemed so out of place. "I think we need to talk."

Nick nodded, bracing himself for the worst. Nothing good ever came from the phrase, 'we need to talk'.

"I know this is the first, well...second time, I suppose, that we've talked properly since...well you know..." began Jess, ringing her hands nervously in her lap as she sat on the edge of her bed, which was decorated with a white duvet that was adorned with tiny red roses. "_The kiss._"

Nick rather liked the way that she emphasised 'the kiss'. He took no small amount of pride in the way that her face flushed at the mention of it. It was flattering to know that the mere mention of one of his kisses could get a women to flush.

"Obviously I've spent time thinking about it and what it could possibly mean...in truth, I've driven myself a little batty thinking about it." Jess babbled, gesturing wildly with her hands and avoiding his gaze. "You should ask Cece...I'm sure she is sick of me telling her about it and asking for advice..."

"What did you tell her?" asked Nick curiously, tilting his head to the side and looking at her intently.

If it was possible her flush increased all the way down her neck.

"I...I don't think that's important." Mumbled Jess, which only served to spike Nicks curiosity more, had she been complimentary? She'd certainly returned the kiss with equal fervour when she'd gotten over the shock. "I...I know you told me earlier that you liked me, that you had done for a while...I want to why you didn't you tell me?"

Nicks brow furrowed. He'd answered this earlier. Nick opened his mouth, about to reiterate his fear of her rejection, when she cut him off, a rather angry expression gracing her face.

"Honesty, Nick!"

It was almost barked, liked a Sargent major addressing a private.

"You want honesty?" Asked Nick, his eyebrows raising subconsciously as he looked down at her. "Look at the guys that you've dated since I've known you. First there was Paul, a fellow teacher and into all the same stuff as you! He wrote goofy songs, loved musicals and played the freakin' Ucalaly! Then Russell...I mean the man was the epitome of class. He does things on a daily basis, without so much as a seconds thought, that I can only dream of. He's everything that I couldn't be and that a part of me wishes I could be."

Nick took a deep breath, still not entirely sure he was doing the right thing by telling her all this, but he figured he was already in for penny, he might as well go in for the pound.

"And then Sam...The man was doctor that specialised in saving child. He performed daily miracles." Stated Nick. "You don't date average guys. And that's what I am...just plain old average Nick Miller. I don't have the high paying job or buckets of charisma like Schmidt or the natural gifts of Coach or Winston. I'm simply a college drop out that works a shitty job. What could I offer you compared to those guys?"

"You think I care about that? You think I'm that shallow?" Breathed Jess, looking at him sadly.

"No, I don't." answered Nick. "But I care. You shouldn't have to settle, Jess. You deserve the very best from life."

"I don't think I'd be settling." Stated Jess quietly.

Nick couldn't put into words just how sensational those simple words made him feel. He was quite a synclinal man by nature but the feeling of pure happiness that seemed to spreading through his chest was entirely foreign.

"And I didn't think I'd be any good for you...I still don't but I just... I just couldn't stand seeing you with somebody else." Finished Nick with a tiny shrug. "And I gave into a moment of weakness, I gave in to urges that I'd tried so hard to squash and you know what? I don't regret for a minute."

A silence developed between them. It was the longest silence that Nick could remember being part of. Longer than the time his mother had sat him down and told him that she was leaving his father, longer than the time his mother told him about his Dad going to prison. It was awful and he wouldn't wish that silence on anybody.

"You think to little of yourself." whispered Jess, pushing her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. "Any women would be lucky to have you. Myself included."

After a moments pause, Nick found his voice.

"What are you saying, Jess?" his voice cracked as he asked.

"I'm saying that you shouldn't compare yourself to them. You know what all three of them have in common? That it didn't work." Answered Jess, her voice husky and filled with emotion as she stood from the bed and moved forward, taking slow, deliberate steps. Steps that Nick watched with wide eyes as she closed the gap between them. She reached out slowly, cautiously as her dainty hands wrapped around his wrists and pulled his hands out of his jeans pockets, intertwining their fingers and brought them up chest level, looking at them with fascination and looking like she very much enjoyed the sensation. "But I think that we could, erm, if you want to...that is?"

A relieved smile stretched across his lips as he squeezed her hands.

"Of course." Breathed Nick in a whisper.

"NO!"

The sudden exclamation caused Nick to jump and spin almost entirely around, his hands still intertwined with hers, almost dragging her with him. Nick dropped one of her hands, using his now free hand to open her bedroom door to reveal Schmidt standing in the door way, looking utterly furious.

"NO!" Schmidt exclaimed again. "This is unacceptable! I knew it! I knew it! I knew you'd be the one to mess this up, Nicholas! I knew you'd break the pact!"

"Pact?" Questioned Jess, looking up at him with those bright blue eyes.

"When you first moved in, Schmidt was worried about room-mate dynamic or something and was worried that having an attractive women in our apartment would prove irresistible to one of us." Explained Nick, hoping it didn't sound as stupid as it actually was but suspecting it did.

"And I was justified!" Stated Schmidt, holding one finger up as if giving himself a mental reward for his foresight. "You have, in your infinite wisdom, screwed up the dynamic of this loft! And I want answers! You had better have a damn good reason for this Jessica Day!"

"Me?" whined Jess. "Why me?"

"Because I expected this from Nick!" Stated Schmidt. "In truth I designed the entire pact with him in mind because I knew, I knew he'd fall victim to those big blue eyes, messy bangs and your strange obsession with polka dots! I expected you to at least resist whatever-" He paused and seemed to appraise Nick up and down, a look of mild disgust on his face. "Game he has."

"You know what, Schmidt!" Barked Jess suddenly and an angry tone, stamping her foot and clutching Nicks hand with surprising strength. "This is none of your business! This is entirely between me and Nick!"

Jess dropped his hands and stomped forward, shooing Schmidt out of her room, giving him a couple of rather hard swats to his bicep until he was scrambling backwards and out of her room, spluttering something about how it was his business and how he should have been informed immediately of there nocturnal activities. As soon as his old college friend had cross out of her rooms door frame, Jess slammed the door in his face, ignoring Schmidts threats from the other side before spinning back to face him, a small smirk appearing on her face as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"So..."

"So..." Nick repeated slowly, well aware just how different standing in Jess' room had become now that things had changed between them.

"How do you want to do this?"

Nick eyes almost popped out of his head at the question. She couldn't be asking what he thought she was asking? Today had already gone better than he could ever have anticipated was this how she wanted to celebrate? Jess had never seemed that forward to him before...well, unless she had had a couple of glasses of a pink wine.

"Excuse me?" squeaked Nick, his voice several octaves higher than normal.

"How do you want to do this? You know...us?" Jess explained rolling her eyes, though she wasn't really being any clearer. "Its gonna be weird dating and living together..."

_Ohhhhh_.

Nick took a moment to ponder it. She was right. It would be weird. They wouldn't really have an escape from each other. When they weren't working they could literally spend every second together and whilst that might sound great, Nick wasn't naive enough to think that that wouldn't lead to to much of a good thing. He, however, also knew that if they tried to be 'normal' with each other outside of their 'dates' it would be awkward as hell.

"I guess we try to find the middle ground?" Offered Nick. "You know, do all the stuff we normally do only...more?"

He knew it sounded lame but it was as best as he could come up. Suddenly True American had become a very interesting possibility...

A dazzling smile lit up Jess' face.

"I like the way you think, Miller!"

"Why thank you, ma'am!" Nick winced at how awful that sounded, quickly thinking that he should probably explain the joke. "You know, because your acting like a Sargent?"

Jess sniggered, though she politely raised her hand and try to cover them up, before regaining her composure and looking at him with a rather shy look in those hypnotic blue eyes of hers.

"So, Nick...Where are you going to take me on our first date?"


End file.
